Video: Jay Leno Takes The Ringbrothers G-Code ’69 Camaro For A Spin

Unless you’re blind, you’ve most likely seen the infamous Ringbrother’s G-Code Camaro making the rounds on social media at one point or another. We were there when it debuted at SEMA 2016, and we are still trying to pick our jaws up off the floor. This special-built Camaro combines old-school looks with all of the modern touches and accouterments.

The car was beautiful enough to pique the interest of the Denim Chin—otherwise known as Jay Leno. Leno invited the Ringbrother onto the show to discuss the finer points of the build. While the Camaro initially looks mostly like it did in 1969, there isn’t a panel on the car that hasn’t been massaged in one way or another.

And while the interior and exterior are virtually works of art, our favorite piece of the car lies under the hood. Motivating the award winning Camaro is a 416 cubic inch LS that has been adorned with a 2.9-liter Whipple supercharger. The twin screw supercharger provides enough boost to have this beast producing north of 1,000 horsepower.

Leno refers to how clean the engine bay is by calling it “sanitary,” which is the perfect way to describe it, as it looks clean enough to eat your dinner off under there. All of the tanks are perfectly hidden with custom machined caps that are set into the bodywork of the Camaro.

One of the things the guys talk about in the video is the fact that this ’69 Camaro actually looks like a’69 Camaro and it was built that way on purpose. It hasn’t had plastic surgery to the point that it is nigh on unrecognizable—which is something the Ringbrothers executed perfectly. We love a custom first-gen as much as the next guy, but we are all in favor of retaining the cars astonishing good looks the General endowed it with in the first place.

Another personal favorite aspect of ours are the HRE wheels. In the video, the Ringbrothers mention that they were modeled after the IROC wheel of the ‘80s, which is another subtle nod to Camaros past and present. We think they are the perfect combination of vintage and modern and we would buy a set ourselves if they weren’t custom one-offs.

Moving to the interior of the car, every single component in the cabin is either custom made from brown leather and soft-touch materials, or machined from chunks of aluminum. The steering wheel looks a lot like the wheel in the sixth-gen Camaro but it was actually model to match the wheels. And while the interior looks amazing it adds a lot of weight, which the guys eventually find out weighs in at a hefty 3954 pounds.

Once the guys are finished drooling over the exterior of the car, they hand Leno the keys to take it for a spin around the city. He is joined by the actual owner of the car, Don Atkinson, who has never actually driven the car since it’s completion.

While it is all fun and games for Leno, Atkinson seems a little bit nervous as the former Late Night Show host hot foots the car around the California desert-scape. We don’t blame him, as 1,000 horsepower is enough to scare the pants right off of most people and all of this is happening before Atkinson has even had a change to drive his car.

However, Leno graciously allows Atkinson to pilot his own vehicle for the first time with the cameras rolling. Naturally, Atkinson begins to announce things that need to be fixed on what anyone else would consider a perfect car. He mentions that the accelerator pedal is much to sensitive—but what else was he expecting from a big cube LS with a twin screw blower on it? Only the owner of a car as beautiful as this could critique it right out of the gate.

Leno isn’t the only one who has been allowed to get behind the wheel. Check out the video below as Matt Farah gives you an in-depth analysis of how the car really drives.

About the author

Chase Christensen

Chase Christensen hails from Salt Lake City, and grew up around high-performance GM vehicles. He took possession of his very first F-body— an ’86 Trans Am— at the age of 13 and has been wrenching ever since.